


you're already home where you feel loved

by c19



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c19/pseuds/c19
Summary: Soulmate marks were only for special people, everyone kept telling them, but Anne and Gilbert both felt decidedly unspecial.Soulmate AU where the soulmate part isn't all that important.
Relationships: Diana Barry & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe & Sebastian "Bash" Lacroix, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 19
Kudos: 318





	you're already home where you feel loved

Gilbert Blythe had grown up his entire life hearing he was special. Everyday someone told him something that apparently made him special, it ranged from the fact that he was good at sports to the fact that he was thoughtful. He used to believe them. At first it was hard too, he didn't understand why someone who was supposedly special had lost his mother before ever getting to know her. But then the years passed and he got used to hearing his name accompanied by a smile. 'Gilbert!' the boys would shout when he entered the schoolhouse or when he made the winning score at the game. 'Hi, Gilbert!' the girls would wave at him before erupting into a fit of giggles. 'Oh, Gilbert!' the older ladies would coo at him after church service. All of this made him puff out his chest and snicker when his father would tease him by calling him 'Avonlea's golden boy'. 

Then his father got sick and he stopped feeling special. People no longer grinned after saying his name, they looked at him with sad eyes that made him want to scream. And so a part of him was glad when his father asked him to travel throughout Canada. When he got off the train in Alberta he actually breathed out a sigh of relief. He was no longer the golden boy, he was no longer special, he was no one. And as the days went by thoughts of himself ceased to fill his mind, his only concern was his father and spending every minute he could with him.

Gilbert tried not to think about the fact that his father's skin became paler, and his coughs more frequent and he wheezed in his sleep. He focused on the fact that his only family was still here. He focused on the conversations they had by the fireplace in their small cabin in the mountains, and listened intently to every word that was said. He spoke frequently of Gilbert's mother, so much so that Gilbert could picture her in his mind. He could even see the curly black tendrils that would escape her bun, his father had told him that putting those tendrils behind her ear was a pastime of his. 

"Were you and mom...?" Gilbert asked his father one day. The older man immediately knew what his son was referring to. 

"No." He answered curtly. "That's why you're special, Gil" He softened his voice.

The word irked him now that he hadn't heard it in almost two years. He didn't think there was anything special about the small dark mark he wore on his skin, just below his ribcage. When he was five years old he asked his father about it, little Gilbert thought it was a smudge of dirt that wouldn't go away, even after many baths. And that's when he heard the word soulmate for the first time. His father explained that not everyone was born with these marks, and that made him special (the beginning of the bothersome word for him). And so Gilbert came to understand that someone, somewhere had the exact same mark on their skin, and that person was his perfect pair. 

He never spoke about his mark, he didn't want to draw even more attention to himself. Not even when they read stories about soulmates in school or when Mrs. Lynde announced at the church picnic that she didn't believe there was actually such a thing as soulmate marks. "Just something that a novelist came up with and we all believed." she had scoffed.

"I don't think having a birthmark makes me special, dad". Gilbert rebuffed.

"It's more than that and you know it." 

After that he changed the subject. 

\------------

Three weeks before their two year anniversary of leaving Avonlea, his father's condition worsened. The strain on his chest became so much he could barely leave his bed without erupting into a debilitating coughing fit. They no longer spoke as much, speaking was hard for his father. So Gilbert read to him. Before that he wouldn't've called himself a lover of literature per se. He had read all his schoolbooks back when he went to school (oh how he missed it) but he never really opened a book unless it was for an assignment. His father on the other hand, loved poetry. "These poems helped me convince your mother to marry me, you know." His father chuckled at some faraway memory.

He appreciated poetry because it made him feel connected to his parents but the little books would often include mentions of little black marks too similar to his own and he felt his cheeks redden at the thought of ever feeling what these poets describe. So, when he heard the soft breaths of his father's indicating he had fallen asleep, he closed the little book and contented himself with watching the leaves fall from his window. 

Two weeks before their two year anniversary of leaving Avonlea his father uttered four words that filled him with dread. "Let's go home, Gil." It wasn't the thought of returning to Avonlea that filled him with dread but what the fact meant. It meant his father didn't think he had much time left. His doctor didn't either. But Gilbert did, even as his father became more ill he held on to the stubborn hope that they had all the time in the world together. 

A week before their two year anniversary of leaving Avonlea, they returned. Their orchard had managed to survive without any care for two years, and apples littered the ground beneath the trees. That Sunday they sat in front of the fireplace as they had done countless times before. "Are you excited for school tomorrow?" His father asked.

Gilbert furrowed his brow in confusion, he hadn't been to school in two years and he wasn't planning on going now. "I'm not going to school, I'm staying here and taking care of you and taking care of the orchard."

"Nonsense, Gil. Your job is not to take care of me, you should be going to school."

"I haven't been to school in two years, why should I start going now when I'm clearly needed here." Gilbert started becoming irate, though he tried not to show it. While he had missed going to school while they were traveling he wouldn't give up spending time with his father for the world, even more so now that his condition had worsened. There was also the subject of money to consider. His father never spoke of it but Gilbert knew the meagre savings they had lived of off while traveling had ran out and now that his father couldn't work Gilbert saw it was his responsibility to take care of the farm.

"Now we're home. Don't worry about me, Gil. I've written a letter to Mrs. Kincannon and she'll help out around here while you're at school." Gilbert wasn't happy with the decision, but he knew there was no changing his father's mind. That night Gilbert dusted off his old slate and gathered his things.

A nasty thought started to creep up on him. He started thinking of how behind he actually was, how he would go to school tomorrow and sit near the front of the classroom with the younger kids when he should be in the back studying for his Queen's entrance exams. He shook the thought away, he would've gladly missed 4 years of schooling for his father. Instead he thought of the positives, of all the things he would learn and the fun he would have (school would still be fun, right? He wasn't quite sure.) and drifted off with thoughts of tomorrow.

\------------

Anne Shirley tried not to dwell on the sad aspects of life. She liked to smile at the sun and smell flowers and read. Oh how she liked to read. It was as if she could escape herself for a brief moment, and become someone else. She could be a princess, or a fair maiden, she didn't really care who she was, as long as she wasn't herself. She couldn't recall a time before she could read, she didn't even remember how she learned how to read. She figured her life only really began when she opened her first book.

She learned many things from books, her favorite fact being the existence of soulmates. The first time she read the term was in a romance novel, she figured it was a wonderful idea but not something grounded in reality, like mermaids. But then the term kept popping up in different books and would stay with her even after the books were closed. The day she read the word in a dictionary she gasped and jumped for joy. This was it, the sign that she needed. 'Soulmates: a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner, characterized by the same birthmark on both persons'. That was the sign that meant that she would be happy someday, because there was someone out there who was ideally suited for her.

After learning this Anne developed the habit of stroking her left ankle whenever she felt particularly unhappy, because there, beneath her stockings, lay a small dark mark. That mark comforted her whenever the girls at the orphanage were keen on taking their anger out on Anne.

But even this small comfort wouldn't last her long. One day, right when Anne had gotten out of her bath, one of the older girls came into the room. She stared at Anne from her head to toes and opened her mouth, likely to tease Anne about her skinny frame again no doubt. Instead, she closed her mouth and drew her eyes to Anne's ankle. Then the girl started to laugh, though the laughter sounded forced and didn't reach her eyes.

"So that's why. That's why you think you're better than us. Lovely Princess Cordelia has a soulmate mark." The girl scoffed. She stepped forward and grabbed Anne by one of her braids, bringing her face close to hers. All Anne could do was try not to yelp at the pain. "Let me teach you something you'll never learn from your books, dear little Cordelia. That mark means nothing. You think you'll meet your soulmate? Fat chance. Soulmates aren't for girls like you. No one will ever love you, you'll be smart to remember that." And with that the girl threw Anne against the wall, she was unable to contain her pain at the blow. The older girl only laughed and left the room. After that Anne got back into the tub and scrubbed at her ankle as hard as she could, but the mark stayed. She tried not to look at it after that and decided to only read books with no mention of the horrid word. 

Life went on. Anne left the orphanage and returned a handful of times before a mistake was made that would change Anne's life forever. She was sent to live with the Cuthbert's. 

Anne's life there had its ups and downs but she was so sublimely happy that she hadn't thought of her mark at all. Until the school spelling bee where it was her against the insufferable Gilbert Blythe. "Spell Soulmate, Blythe." Mr. Phillips had instructed and Anne's breath caught in her throat. Surprisingly the boy wonder misspelled the word.

"Should've added the 'E'." He said to her afterwards, but she could barely register his words, her mind had returned to the orphanage. To that day when the older girl had told her no one would ever love her. 

That night Diana stayed over at Green Gables and Anne couldn't help but confide in her dearest bosom friend what was plaguing her. When the candle was blown away and the moonlight couldn't come through the curtains and Anne could hide her shame. 

"She was wrong. You know that, right Anne?" Diana had reassured her.

"I don't know that she was, Di." Anne replied, her voice trembling.

"She was, because I love you." Diana had turned to look at Anne.

"You do?" Diana merely nodded. And Anne finally realized that the older girl had been wrong. Maybe she was right in the fact that Anne would never experience romantic love. But she was loved. She was loved by Diana and Marilla and Matthew and that was enough for her. 

-

Anne was now 14 ('Soon to be 15!' she would announce to everyone whenever she could) and had been living in Avonlea for a year. She no longer dreaded going to school, she would skip down the stairs every morning and nearly race to the school. She loved being around Miss Stacy, and in the short time she had been teaching them Anne had realized that she wanted to be exactly like her when she grew up. When Anne and Diana arrived at the school the only person there other than Miss Stacy was Gilbert. 

A lot had changed since she lost that spelling competition to him. His father had died and he left Avonlea for nearly a year. During that time she found herself looking at his empty desk and wishing he was there. At first she told herself that the only reason she wanted him back was so Ruby would stop crying during lunch time. Then Ruby actually did stop crying (she still talked about him, mind you) so Anne told herself she only wanted him to return so she could have an educational rival again. Eventually, she admitted to herself that she didn't really have a reason to want him back, she just missed him.

He finally came back and she really couldn't find a reason to hate him anymore. Though she still found him insufferable, this time for another reason entirely. He had always been good at school but now he had found his calling and didn't pay attention to anything that wasn't school related. He never sat with their fellow classmates during lunch or played with the boys, it was always just his nose in a book (Anne would never admit that her main issue with that was that he also wasn't paying attention to her). 

Anne warmly greeted everyone with a general 'Good morning!' when she arrived, to which Gilbert merely lifted his palm in a wave, his eyes never once leaving his book. Anne rolled her eyes and took her seat. The other students started to file in and class quickly began.

A small tap on her shoulder distracted Anne from the lesson, it was Ruby. The girl handed her a note, her hand practically shaking in excitement. It could never mean something good when Ruby Gillis was this level of excited. 'Stay after school, we're playing a game. - Josie P.' the note read. Anne immediately shook her head no, she remembered the disaster that was the last game Josie Pye suggested and Anne didn't really find herself in the mood to be humiliated. 

'Come on, Anne.' Ruby mouthed, Anne merely shook her head again. 

A little while later the afternoon bell rang and everyone gathered their things, but instead of heading out the door like they usually did, they gathered in the back of the classroom and sat in a circle. It seemed Anne and Ruby weren't the only ones who received a note. Nevertheless, Anne headed out the door but before she was able to leave Ruby blocked the exit.

"Anne, please stay. Please please please. Gilbert's also staying and you know he never stays for these types of things. Come on, Anne." Ruby pleaded. Anne merely groaned and turned around. 

"I just want it to be known, Ruby, that the only reason I'm doing this is because I know you'll complain about it for the next 10 days if I don't stay." 

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Ruby jumped up and down and hugged Anne. Anne chuckled.

The girls reached the circle and it seemed the game had already started.

"What are we playing?" Ruby said as she sat down. 

"Truth or dare." Josie replied with a smirk. Anne had to stifle another groan. Now Josie Pye had two different options for torture. She either made Anne answer an embarrassing question or she made Anne perform an embarrassing act. She was already regretting caving to Ruby's pleas. 

The game went in typical truth or dare fashion. 'Who do you like?' and 'Who do you have a crush on?' being the two most popular questions. Anne had already made up her mind to choose dare when it was her turn. She guessed if Josie did ask her about her crush she could just say the truth. She didn't have a crush on anyone. But she had a feeling Josie would find a way to twist her answer into something everyone else would laugh at.

And Gilbert was sitting in front of her pretending he wasn't looking at her (Anne was also pretending she didn't notice his stares) and the last thing she wanted was a repeat of the spin the bottle fiasco in front of him.

"Truth or dare, Anne?" Josie asked her.

"Dare." Anne immediately replied.

Josie had a dare at the ready, because of course she did. "I dare you to walk across the schoolhouse roof." 

The circle erupted in a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ah's' with a couple of people expressing their disapproval at the dare but not enough to make Josie take it back. The only person who stayed completely silent was Gilbert, he barely even reacted. 'He thinks I can't do it' Anne thought. 'Well I'll show him' and with that last thought she stood up and walked out of the classroom, everyone else hot on her trail.

She could do this, she climbed trees all the time. She even jumped out of her bedroom window once, and while the fall hurt a little bit, it wasn't anything she didn't get over. But as she looked up at the roof her heart started beating a little bit faster. She hadn't ever climbed a tree that high, and her bedroom window wasn't that high up either. 

"Are you gonna be a scaredy cat, Anne?" Josie taunted her. 

"Cut it out, Josie." Gilbert stepped in, to everyone's shock. He took a few steps forward until he was close to Anne, who had already started climbing the ladder. 'Why was there even a ladder here?' Anne thought. 'This really is an accident waiting to happen.'

Gilbert wrapped his hand around her leg, preventing her from continuing the climb. At the death stare she gave him he let go of her leg, but he didn't leave to join the others who were standing at the other side of the schoolhouse waiting to see Anne walk across the roof.

"You don't have to do this, Anne. It's just a stupid dare." Gilbert said, his eyes staring into hers and she found herself unable to look away. She hated when that happened because staring into Gilbert's eyes made her heart beat faster than the thought of walking across the schoolhouse roof ever did.

"Anne Shirley Cuthbert doesn't back out of a dare." Anne managed to get out with shaky breath. She tore her gaze away from his and continued to climb the ladder. When she finally got on the roof she found it hard to breath. Her classmates below looked awfully small and the steep roof wasn't the most stable surface. 'Here goes nothing' she thought as she took the first step.

She only managed to take two more steps before she lost her footing and fell. The fall so sudden she didn't have time to register anything but the searing pain on her ankle. Hot tears came to her eyes as she tried not to make any noise that would expose her injury.

All the other students ran to her, asking if she was okay but none of them knew what to do in the situation. All Diana could think to do was hold her best friends hand and yell at someone to get Matthew in Green Gables. Anne wasn't paying attention to her classmates, her attention too focused on her breathing. If she focused on her breath she wouldn't be able to focus on the pain on her ankle and the tears on her face. 

Suddenly she saw a face in front of her, stopping her from counting her 11th breath since the fall. It was Gilbert. Under any other circumstance Anne would be annoyed and embarrassed if Gilbert saw her like this, breathing erratically and crying. But she remember that Gilbert wanted to be a doctor and that all he ever did was read medical texts and maybe he could help her in some way.

"Anne... Anne!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face to make her pay attention to him. She made a mental note to tell him later to never do that again. Anne looked at him, scared to open her mouth in fear that a sob would come out. "Anne, where does it hurt?" Gilbert asked her, his instincts kicking in.

"My ankle." Her voice cracked.

As Gilbert ran his hands through both her ankles she knew something was horribly wrong, she had twisted her ankle before and that pain was nothing compared to what she felt now.

"I think it might be broken, can I take off your boot?" Gilbert asked her, concern marring his features. Anne nodded. 

Gilbert went on to unlace her boot and take it off, her stockings that had already pooled around her ankle going with it. "It's definitely broken, we need to get a doctor." 

"Matthew's on his way." Diana added.

Gilbert continued moving around her ankle when suddenly he gave a small gasp. Anne hadn't dared look down in fear that maybe she would see bone sticking out where it shouldn't but she quickly realized what Gilbert had gasped at. Her mark. That exposure made her feel more vulnerable than all the shed tears.

"Gilbert let go of me." Anne had found it within her to stop crying and though the pain was still there the way Gilbert was looking at her made her want to run away. Alas, she could not do that. The next best thing was at least trying to hide her vulnerability. "Gilbert let go of me NOW!" She forcefully expressed when Gilbert still held on to her ankle. The boy jerked back as if he had been burned.

At that moment Matthew arrived on his buggy, and everyone forgot about Anne's outburst in favor of helping her get on the cart. 

Four hours later Anne sat in the parlor in Green Gables. Her leg in a cast and her crutches leaning against the wall. She was no longer in pain but was plagued by a foul mood. Marilla had given her quite a verbal thrashing about her recklessness and though she cried and cried Matthew had not come to her aid. She now sat staring out the window, incredibly bored. Her evening took a more exciting turn when she stopped the figure of Gilbert Blythe walking up to her front door. She wished she could go back to being bored and avoid any conversation Gilbert came here to have. 

He heard him greet Marilla and exchange platitudes with her until finally he appeared before her, standing in the doorway. 

"It's late, Gilbert." Anne said by way of greeting.

"I know, I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Well, now you've seen me. I'm fine." Anne knew her tone was harsh but couldn't do anything to stop it. Maybe if she was rude enough he wouldn't ask what he actually wanted to.

"I'm glad. Anne I wanted to ask about what I saw on your ankle." He finally expressed.

Anne inhaled once trying to weigh her decisions on the spot. She could tell him it was exactly what he thought it was. But this would lead to two possible outlooks. Either he congratulates her for being lucky and moves on. Or he resents her for it, as many kids in the orphanage did, and he treats her differently. However delicate and sometimes somewhat tense their relationship was, she couldn't risk losing it. Not with him. So she chose to protect it, and herself.

"I don't know what you're talking about, the only thing you could've seen was my broken ankle." She puffed out.

Gilbert looked at her, in that special way of his that made her feel much too vulnerable. So she raised her eyebrows in silent question, 'Well?'.

"I guess my panic made me see things that weren't there. Sorry about that." He finally broke his gaze and turned to leave. 

"Gilbert!" Anne suddenly blurted out. "Thank you." She said, she was honestly grateful that he was there that afternoon. He hadn't done anything but worry but looking back on it, his presence was a comfort.

"I'll always be there for you, Anne-girl." He looked down with a sheepish half smile and she did the same to try to hide the color that rose to her cheeks. They said their goodbyes and she watched him leave as she had watched him come.

\------------

It was a scorching summer and everyone in the group was grateful that yesterday was the last day of school, the oppressive heat in the classroom not letting them concentrate. They were all having a picnic by Anne's dear Lake of Shining Water's when Moody came up with the idea and all the other boys immediately agreed because not even Ruby's delicious lemonade could help appease their suffering. One by one the boys unlaced their shoes, took off their shirts, and jumped in the lake. The girls didn't know whether to run, shriek, or jump in. So they simply laughed. 

"Oh my mother would certainly faint if she saw this scene." Ruby squeaked, her excitement far outweighing her fear of her mother's reaction.

"You'll survive a scolding, Ruby. It's our last summer in Avonlea before we go off to Queens, we should take advantage of every second." Anne laid with her head on Diana's lap as she saw the scene that unfolded before her. The sun reflecting on the lake, the tall grass swaying in the breeze, her best friend running her hands through her hair. Avonlea was a treasure to Anne and she savored every sight, every smell, every touch. She had made it her goal this summer to have as many adventures as possible, she figured she already wasted last summer sitting in her parlor, her leg weighed down by her cast, she wasn't going to waste her last summer as a girl. Next summer she'd be a woman, a student of Queen's college.

"You're absolutely right, Anne." Ruby stood up, catching everyone's attention. Ruby started to unbutton her dress when all the girls stood up as well, trying to stop her.

"That's really not what I meant at all, Ruby." Anne pleaded.

"Take it from me, your reputation is a delicate thing. Don't tarnish it for an afternoon of fun." Josie tried to redo Ruby's buttons but the girl shook her off.

"I want to live, girls." Ruby proclaimed, standing only in her underthings. "Besides, this isn't too different to what the boys are wearing." She giggled, and with that final statement she ran to the lake and jumped. Ruby had grown bolder by the day ever since she showed up on the first day of school after winter break that year and announced to the girls that she was 'now officially over Gilbert Blythe.' All the boys stood still for a second, not being quite sure what to do, until Ruby splashed Moody's face and it was like nothing had changed at all. They all continued with their splashing and yelling and laughing. 

All the girls had ran to the lakeside to get a closer look. Tillie and Jane shared a look. "Oh what the hell." The girls chorused before taking off their shoes and jumping in as well. They still wore their dresses, not feeling quite as adventurous as Ruby. 

"It seems everyone has truly lost their minds. I'm going home. Diana, you coming?" Josie asked. Before Diana could answer Gilbert came out of the lake and sat down on a nearby rock. It was everything Anne could do to look anywhere but Gilbert's naked torso. 

"You girls coming in?" Gilbert's teasing smile adorned his face. She had become quite fond of that little smile. Sometimes during their many study sessions she would pretend she still didn't understand a geometry question, just to see that little smile while he explained for the third time. She was also guilty of making up homework just so she would have an excuse for Marilla to let her go to Gilbert's house. Not that she often needed one, the Blythe's and the Lacroix's and the Cuthbert's had practically become one family. The use of the front door had been forgone and Bash had taken to calling Anne 'Aunty Anne' whenever he talked to Delphine about her.

"Certainly not." Josie huffed and took off.

"What about you, Carrots? Aren't you jumping in?" Gilbert knew exactly what he was doing, that nickname never failed to make her smile. She didn't really remember when it stopped irking her and started making her smile. She supposed it was late last year, she was feeding Delphine while Gilbert and Bash worked outside. She was also trying to surprise them with dinner. It seemed she got a bit too carried away playing with little Delly that her stew started pouring over, by the time she got to the stove the stew jumped and exploded all over her, her clothes, and the kitchen floor. Only Delphine was safe, as she laughed at the mess from the other side of the kitchen. 'What on God's Earth did you get yourself into this time, Carrots?' He had been unable to hide his smile and she had been unable to keep herself from bursting into laughter. 

"Wouldn't you just love that?" They joked like that often. She had come to know a side of Gilbert that she didn't think a lot of people knew, and she absolutely loved. No one could argue that Gilbert Blythe wasn't the perfect gentleman, and entirely too selfless. But not a lot of people could say that he was funny. Anne could. Gilbert joked about himself all the time, self deprecating and self-adulating in the same amount. ('I mean I don't even know why all the girls in Avonlea are head over heels for you' she had said while they picked apples. He stopped and looked at her 'I mean, have you seen me, Carrots? Seriously?' She burst out laughing at that.)

So she had taken to joking around with him in the same way. ('Gil, I think we need to talk about your obsession with me.' She said to him when he arrived unannounced at Green Gables for the fourth day in a row. 'You wish. The conversation we should be having is about my obsession with Marilla's cream puffs.') Sometimes a joke wouldn't perform as intended and the air between them would became heavy with things unsaid. She would never tell him that when he joked about how she loved his hair, he was right. And he would never tell her that she actually was his main reason for going to Green Gables.

"I would." He dropped the teasing smile and looked at her solemnly. It reminded her of the way he looked at her right before she walked the schoolhouse roof and like she did that day, she felt the need to interrupt his gaze. She took all of him in, from his pants rolled up to the knee, to his wet curls sticking to his forehead. She noticed his broad shoulders and her gaze lowered, to a tiny dark mark just below his ribcage. She felt dizzy.

"I need to go." Anne didn't wait for anyone's response and just started walking as fast as she could. She could hear Diana running after her and calling her name but she couldn't bring herself to stop or the slow her pace. 

Finally Diana caught up to her. "Hey, what was that all about? What happened to taking advantage of every second in Avonlea?"

"I-I couldn't stay there, Diana. I-I saw him and I saw something I shouldn't've seen, I'm not even sure what it is that I even saw but what if it is what I think it is an-"

"Slow down, Anne. Tell me what's going on." Diana tried to calm her friend. 

When Anne felt she had put enough distance between her and the lake she stopped walking and turned to Diana. "You saw that birthmark Gilbert had?" 

"Yeah, it looked like a soulmate mark but I'm not sure, I didn't take a good look."

"I don't know what it is, Di. But I have the exact same mark on my ankle." Anne silently pleaded for her friend to understand what she was trying to say, she didn't have the strength to say it out loud. When understanding finally etched itself on Diana's face, Anne started walking again. 

"You have a soulmate mark on your ankle, Anne. You've told me about it and I've seen it. I know it's not a birthmark." 

Anne couldn't form thoughts coherent enough for a reply so she just kept on walking. "Does this mean that you and Gilbert are soulmates?" Diana asked.

"I don't know what any of this means, Di." Anne finally saw Green Gables coming up the hill and said goodbye to her friend.

That night Anne poured over every romance novel she could find, including the ones she swore off years ago, and all of them had their main characters having some sort of grand revelation but Anne didn't feel any differently than she did yesterday. She loved spending time with Gilbert, that was much obvious. She couldn't say she didn't find him handsome, he's an objectively handsome boy... or man, she guessed. She could even admit (if only to herself) to having a small crush on Gilbert. But love? That was something else entirely. How was she to know what love was? But love was what she was supposed to feel for her soulmate. She had to feel it even without seeing the marks. And she had known Gilbert for a long time, if he really was her soulmate she should've felt something akin to the books by now.

Anne finally got her mind to quiet down nearing 4 in the morning, only to be woken up by the sun a couple of hours later. She begged Marilla to let her stay home from church that Sunday but Marilla would not relent. "Are you sick?" Marilla help a hand to Anne's forehead.

"...No." "Then you will go to church and thank the Lord for your health. Go get changed."

Anne did thank God when they got to the church, she thanked him because Gilbert hadn't been there when they got there, so she didn't have to talk to him. She still didn't know what to say to him 'Hey, I think we might be soulmates but we also might not be because I don't think I'm in love with you'. That probably wouldn't work. She also could pretend she didn't even see his mark and go back to normal but she didn't think that was a possibility anymore. She didn't know how to be around him anymore. 

After church Marilla usually stuck around to talk to Bash and Mrs. Lynde but Anne took the opportunity to hop on the buggy with Matthew, Gilbert looking at her retreating figure in confusion. 

The following day the Queen's study group was meeting at the schoolhouse to go over the topics for the entrance exam and Anne had already devised a plan for avoiding Gilbert. She spent the entire morning helping everyone else and when Gilbert asked her to read over his essay she quickly lied and told him she was too busy. This went on for the next few days. Anne had only gone four days without properly talking to him and she already missed him. She told herself this was a good thing, she had to get used to not being around him, they weren't going to be together at Queen's. 

Anne tried to go a fifth day without talking to him but he made it impossible. Anne had been in the kitchen, trying to make bread, when Gilbert burst in through the kitchen door. Anne wasn't at all surprised, Marilla had assured Gilbert there was no need for him to knock anymore and he had listened to her. At the time it warmed her heart to see him come in with such familiarity, as if he was entering his own home. Now it only reminded her that she couldn't even look a mess in her house. Which she certainly did now. Flour covered every inch of her, it was caught in her braids, and in her dress, and on her face. 

"I know you like to think you live here but you don't so try knocking next time." Anne kept on kneading her dough as she said this.

Gilbert was taken aback at her harshness, but persisted. "Sorry... It's just... You've been avoiding me, Anne. Why?" 

"I haven't been doing anything, I've just been busy. Do you need anything or did you just come here to tell me you need attention?" Anne tried her hardest to keep her voice steely. She knew he would notice if she faltered, and if she faltered she would have to tell him the real reason she wasn't talking to him. She wasn't ready for that.

"Can we not do this right now, Anne?" Gilbert sighed. 

"Do what?"

"This thing where you try to push me away. I'm tired of it from last year, and this time I'm not leaving so there's no point in trying." He moved closer to her. "You know you can tell me anything. What's going on with you?" His hands covered hers, stopping her from continuing with her kneading.

Her breath caught in her throat. "I can't talk about it right now, Gil." Her facade had been broken. 

"I understand that. Tell me when you're ready. Just please don't keep avoiding me, I missed my best friend." He wrapped her arms around her and Anne felt like crying, though she didn't really know why. 

"You're all covered in flour now." Her voice cracked. She held back her tears but the lump in her throat kept getting bigger.

"That's alright." He said softly. "I guess I'll just have to help you with this bread now." And that's what he did. They spent the rest of the afternoon baking, few words exchanged between them. He had gone to see her because she wasn't talking to him but standing there in the kitchen, her hand brushing against his as they worked the dough, he realized it wasn't just the conversation he missed. He missed the connection. They had somehow become a unit, there was no Gilbert without Anne. 

As he walked back to his house his mind wandered to the day she broke her ankle after falling from the schoolhouse roof. He had told himself that he had imagined it. That whatever he had seen on her ankle that day was not a mark identical to his. It was just wishful thinking. If they were soulmates it would explain why he had felt so drawn to her since they met. 

He rubbed the side of his face remembering the bruise that had formed there after she hit him with her slate that first day they met. Even though she tried her hardest to push him away, all he wanted was her attention. This need he had for her went on, even after he left Avonlea. Anne was the last thing on his mind after his father died but he would get struck by the though 'What is Anne doing right now?' as he shoveled coal or snuck into the upper deck to gaze upon the horizon. 

Working on the ship taught him a lot. After seeing a lot of the world he figured there was more to life than worrying about a certain red headed girl ignoring him, he focused solely on his future. Until his brother got married, then he figured his future could wait. And he hadn't regretted that decision once. He thought of all the things he would've missed if he had left. He wouldn't've been there for all of Delly's firsts. He wouldn't've been able to get to know Mary before she left them, in the year he had with her he had cared for her as a sister, or maybe a surrogate mother. He wouldn't've gotten as close as he had with Anne. 

Anne become a fixture of his life. He knew her, in a way that maybe he didn't know anyone else, maybe only Bash. She was his closest friend. And he always left it at that, friends. But sometimes when he saw her in a certain light or when she would laugh so hard her eyes would close, he felt a tug at his chest and wondered if what he felt for her was more than friendship. But then she would finish a sentence of his without even thinking about it and he would go back to being sure, they were friends. He had never heard of romantic partners having a relationship like theirs. What they had was special, and couldn't be sullied by adding anything more to it. 

When he got home he found Bash with Delphine on his hip, trying to stir some soup. "Come on let me do that." Gilbert said, taking the spoon from his hand. 

Bash tried to tell him about his day in the orchard but the words didn't seem to stick, his mind still hung up on Anne. "Where's you head at, Blythe? You haven't heard a word I've said." Bash protested. 

"Sorry, Bash... I just... Can I ask you something?" He forgot about the soup and sat in the chair across from Bash. Bash nodded. "Were you and Mary soulmates?" Gilbert asked.

A rueful smile crossed Bash's face. It no longer hurt him to talk about Mary the way it once did. He missed her but now he wouldn't weep whenever he thought of her. "We were. Though we didn't find out until our wedding night. It didn't matter to us anyway, it was just a happy surprise." 

"Didn't you at least have a feeling that she was your soulmate before you married her?"

"No, I just knew I loved her. And I would've continued to love her even if she wasn't my soulmate. Had I met a woman the next day with a matching mark the end result would still be the same. Mary was my person." Bash answered. 

"How did you know you loved her? How could you be sure it was love and not anything else?" Gilbert continued with his questions. 

"It just felt right, you know? I was eating dinner in her house and talking to her and I just felt at ease, and I knew that's what I wanted to do and how I wanted to feel for the rest of my life. That make sense, Blythe?" 

Gilbert just nodded. It did make sense. 

"Anything you wanna tell me?" Bash asked, his usual teasing smirk coming back to his face. 

"Nope." Was all that Gilbert replied before standing up and returning his attentions to the soup.

\-----

Anne knew she needed to make sense of her feelings. Whenever she was unsure of something she usually talked to Gilbert about it, but obviously that wasn't an option with the topic at hand. She tried talking to Diana, and while her bosom friend had tried to help her, she was a bit out of her depths, never having experienced anything close to what Anne was describing. 

Anne decided to talk to someone who she knew would have answers. After the Queen's study group was dismissed, Anne decided to stay behind to talk to Miss Stacy. 

"What can I help you with, Anne?" Miss Stacy sat on her desk while Anne leaned on the desk behind her.

She wasn't sure how to approach the subject so she decided to just jump right in. "You were friends with your husband, right?" 

Miss Stacy was taken aback at the question but not much surprised anymore when it came to Anne. "I was." She chuckled a bit. "He was my best friend." Miss Stacy continued.

"How did you know you wanted to stop being his friend and wanted to become his wife?" Anne asked, earning a laugh from the teacher.

"It doesn't work like that, Anne! He was always my friend, especially when we got married. I believe friendship is the most important aspect of a marriage. Oh I had so much fun with my darling." Miss Stacy's smile only got wider as she continued to speak.

"Then how do you know when your feelings for someone are... romantical?" 

"I know the answer I'm about to give you is probably going to be most unsatisfactory, but it is the truth. You just know. If you're confused now there will come a moment when you'll just know. You'll know whether this person is simply a good friend, or more than that." Miss Stacy was right, her answer did not satisfy Anne but she wanted an answer and an answer she was given.

"Thank you, Miss Stacy." The teacher went on to embrace her favorite student in a hug. 

"I'll miss you when you're at Queen's." She whispered in Anne's ear. 

"I'll miss you too." Anne replied. 

Before Anne could exit the schoolhouse Miss Stacy called her for one last thing. "If it helps, I do think whoever is giving you these confusing feelings, is also having some confusing feelings of his own." She had noticed a certain Blythe boy moping around her classroom for a few days when a certain redhead wasn't talking to him.

Anne pretended she didn't know what Miss Stacy was talking about and left. 

Anne still needed to think, so she went to her favorite thinking place. The cliff. She sat on the edge as the tall grass tickled her legs and wind mussed her braids. It wasn't long before she heard steps coming toward her. She smiled at the sound, how funny it was that she could tell exactly who it was just by the sound of his steps. He took a seat next to her.

"Marilla told me you'd be here." Gilbert said.

"Think of the devil..." Anne smiled at him.

"You thinking about me, Carrots?" Gilbert mirrored her expression.

"I was merely thinking, something you never let me do. I knew it wouldn't be long until you showed up here." 

Gilbert suddenly turned serious. "I can leave if you want."

Anne shook her head. "You know your presence is always welcome by me, Gil." 

He nodded. "So what were you thinking about?" He asked her.

Anne thought of a multitude of lies she could tell him but she decided to just tell him the truth. The moment was so peaceful she thought nothing could ruin it. 

"I think we might be soulmates." She turned to look at him. His expression didn't change and he didn't say anything. He just sat there waiting for her to continue. 

"You're not surprised?" She asked him. 

He shook his head. "I had a feeling. I wasn't really sure, I'm still not, but I thought we might be. That day you broke your ankle, I could've sworn I saw your soulmate mark but it was so quick, and you pulled away, and there were other things to think about, I figured I imagined it. But then you started avoiding me after seeing my mark and I started thinking about it again." Anne opened her mouth to protest but Gilbert replied before she could even speak. "I know you saw my mark, Anne. I saw you checking me out at the lake."

Anne burst out laughing at this. "I was not checking you out!" 

"You kind of were." Gilbert laughed. "But anyway, whether we are soulmates or not it doesn't really matter." He continued.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because it won't change how I feel about you." He replied earnestly. He gazed at her in a way he had done many times, but looking at him now, she was sure his eyes held the answer to the question she was about to ask. 

"How do you feel about me?"

"I love you." He said without hesitation. "And I'll continue to love you in any way you'll let me. If friendship is all you'll allow then I'll love you like a best friend until you no longer stand the sight of me. Though I'll probably still keep on loving you after that. Or if you'll allow it, I'll love you like a husband. I just want to be with you, Anne." 

She understood Miss Stacy then. She knew in that moment she loved him. She couldn't imagine a life where Gilbert Blythe wasn't there to tease her and comfort her. She couldn't imagine ever wanting to be with someone the way she always wanted to be with him. 

"I want to be with you too, Gil. Always. I love you." She said softly.

Gilbert didn't waste another moment after that, he closed the space between them and kissed her. It wasn't passionate, as they kept breaking the kiss to smile, but they wouldn't have it any other way. 

They sat there, staring at the horizon. Anne's head on Gilbert's chest, his arms wrapped around her. It was as if Anne found the missing key. This was the only thing missing between them.

"Even though it doesn't matter, I do think we need to resolve the whole soulmate issue." Anne said, breaking their silence. "Let me see your mark." She said, tugging at his suspenders.

"Anne Shirley Cuthbert are you trying to get me to take my clothes off? Just what do you think Marilla would say?" He feigned shock. 

"Oh come on, Gil!" She laughed. "Here I'll go first." She unlaced her boot and took off her stocking, the action reminding her of that fateful day outside the schoolhouse. Gilbert followed her lead and tugged his shirt over his head. 

She inspected his mark and inspected hers. She ran her fingers over his mark and over hers and he did the same. Then Anne did something very uncharacteristic of her. She squealed. She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, the force of it making them both tumble to the ground. She went on to pepper him with kisses wherever she could. His cheek, his jaw, his neck, his collarbone, and finally a peck to his lips.

"I'm really glad it's you, Anne-girl." Gilbert said against her hair.

"There could never be anyone for me but you, Gilbert." She kissed him again. She would probably have trouble not kissing him after today. 

But Gilbert was usually was the voice of reason between the pair and today was no different. He realized if anyone were to stumble upon them, that person would stumble upon quite a scene. Anne laying on top of him, kissing him, missing a shoe and a stocking, and Gilbert below her, kissing her, missing a shirt. "I should probably put my shirt back on."

"I'm becoming a fan of this shirtless Gilbert." Anne said sitting up. Gilbert only gave her a look. 

A few hours later Gilbert dropped Anne off at Green Gables. She felt like she was walking on air. 

"What's gotten into you, child?" Marilla chastised her when she took too long to set the table for dinner. 

"Oh Marilla I'm in love." Anne said when they were all at the table. Matthew choked a little bit on his water but a few pats on the back from Anne and he was fine.

"I'm happy for you, Anne. But you must keep your head, your chores can't be ignored just because you're daydreaming." Marilla reminded her. 

"Yes, Marilla. Oh but aren't you going to ask me who I'm in love with?" Anne continued.

Marilla scoffed. "I've seen you two making eyes at each other enough times right here in this very table to not know it's Gilbert Blythe making you crazy."

"We're soulmates." 

Marillas eyes widened at that. "You are?" She asked. Anne nodded.

Marilla held out her hand over the table and squeezed Anne's hand. Matthew gave a kiss to Anne's temple and she felt oh so grateful for her parents. 

Back at the Blythe-Lacroix homestead Gilbert was having a similar conversation. 

"Hey, Bash. Guess what?" Gilbert said as soon as he opened the door. Gilbert nearly skipped on his way home from Green Gables and his cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Bash raised an eyebrow, expecting an answer. "I found out who my soulmate is today." Gilbert revealed.

Bash's face made quick work into turning his frown into a smirk. "Oh really? And who, pray tell, is the unlucky gal?" Bash had placed both his hands on the table, ready to get up from his seat any minute now.

Gilbert decided wait a few seconds before answering, it was his turn to torture Bash a little bit. "... Anne Shirley Cuthbert."

Bash sprung out of his seat and began doing his little dance. All Gilbert could do was roll his eyes. "Nearly three years later, Blythe. I was right all along. So you figured out part one, she's your soulmate, have you figured out part two yet?"

"What's part two?" Gilbert asked.

"Figuring out you're in love with her." Bash replied.

"Ah, it seems I figured out part two before I figured out part one." At that Bash let out another whoop and engulfed Gilbert in a hug.

"I'm happy for you, brother. You found the one, now don't mess it up." 

"Why do you always have to add that little bit of venom." Gilbert complained, though he wasn't at all upset. He embraced Bash's teasing, it reminded him that the man that he had met in the most unexpected of places, really had become his brother.

"It's my job, Blythe." Bash laughed and left to get Delphine from her crib, doing his little dance every step of the way.

\----------

The next morning while Anne was having breakfast there was a knock on the door. "Gilbert Blythe since when do you knock?" She heard Marilla say. She quickly gulped down her milk and went to the door. 

"Anne reminded me the other day I need to mind my manners." Gilbert said, eyes piercing straight into Anne's. "Marilla may I walk Anne to the school for our Queen's study session?" Gilbert continued. 

Both Anne and Marilla were shocked and rendered speechless. Gilbert had never asked for Marilla's permission for anything regarding Anne, he would simply show up and ask if she was there. 

"Well I guess you'll have to ask her." Marilla said. She returned to the dinning room after that, not wanting to be witness to another round of youthful gazing between the new couple.

Anne raised her eyebrow at her Gilbert. "What's with all this newfound formality?" She asked him. 

"Just wanted to begin our courtship the proper way. May I walk you to the school, Anne?" 

Anne rolled her eyes at him. "You may. Let me get my things."

Once they were on the path to the school, walking the same way they had done dozens of times. Anne holding on to the crook of his elbow, letting go every once in a while to pick a flower or stroke a leaf, and Gilbert holding both of their books, she asked him a question. "What's all this about a courtship now?" 

"After yesterday's events I thought we should start making things a little more... serious. I mean you're 16 and we've been lucky enough until now to have been friends this close and not have any rumors spread." Gilbert explained.

"It's just courtships are so stiff and formal and there's so many rules, you know we'd need to get a chaperone if we were to follow the rules correctly. And you're right, I am 16, much too young to be dealing with anything as serious as a courtship." 

Gilbert stiffened at her explanation. "Does that mean you want to go back to just being friends?" 

"No! It means I want us to be the same us we've always been. With a few new things thrown in." To make her point she grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in for a kiss. 

"You're incorrigible, Carrots." Gilbert murmured against her lips. 

\---------

Anne's time that summer was divided between spending time with Diana and studying for the Queen's entrance exam with Gilbert. And the day had finally arrived, in a few minutes she would be taking her exam.

Diana had gone over to Green Gables that morning to wish her luck and try to settle her nerves. It saddened Anne to think that Diana wouldn't be accompanying her in this new adventure, but she knew that distance wouldn't weaken their friendship. Diana was her kindred spirit and Anne always thought of her as her second soulmate, even before she knew who her actual soulmate was. 

Now she sat in the examination room, her paper in front of her. Gilbert sat on the other side of the room and offered her a reassuring smile. 'You've got this.' He mouthed. In a surprising turn of events Anne had decided when she woke up that she did not want to speak with Gilbert until after the exam. If he tried to study some more it would only make her more nervous and if they talked about something else it would only distract her. 

When the examiner finally let them turn their papers all thoughts of Gilbert or Diana or anything else left her mind. And all she focused on were the answers to the questions on that paper. She recalled every single one of Miss Stacy's lessons and every equation written on her slate, and every late night study session. And somehow her nerves left her. She finished the exam and stood up and left, Gilbert's eyes following her as she moved. 

A few minutes later Gilbert joined her at the bench she was sitting, right outside of the building where they had taken the exam. They were the only two that had finished. 

"How did you do?" They both asked simultaneously.

"I think I did fine, but we'll just have to see." Anne answered.

"You're the smartest girl in school, Anne. I'm sure you did great. I think I did alright, but like you said, we'll just have to see."

"You're the smartest boy in school, Gil. I'm sure you did great." Anne reassured him, a smile on her face. 

A month later they both found out. All the students gathered in the school for the last time to find out their exam results. Not for the first time that summer, Anne felt quite nostalgic standing there. Avonlea had become her whole life, and if she had managed to pass this exam, in a few weeks she would be leaving. 

"Anne!" Ruby's voice brought Anne out of her reverie. "You and Gilbert tied for first place!" Her friend informed her.

"We did?!" Anne asked, nearly jumping for joy. She had a feeling she had passed the test but never in a million years would she had thought she would get first place. Well, tied for first place, but that was a technicality. 

In that moment Gilbert grabbed her from behind and twirled her around. "Guess all those study sessions paid off, huh?" 

The pair had decided they wouldn't follow the traditional courting rules, and while everyone around them was initially shocked at they way they behaved (and Anne had received many a scolding from Mrs. Lynde) they eventually moved on, another small town gossip taking everyone by storm. 

"And here I thought those were just an excuse so you could spend time with me." She teased.

"Two birds one stone, Carrots." Gilbert said, making her laugh. Anne's laugh was one of Gilbert's favorite sounds, all he ever wanted to do was make her laugh. 

Moody Spurgeon, klutz with a heart of gold, had decided that this was a momentous occasion, and they couldn't ignore it. "Come on, guys! This is the last time we will ever be together like this, we have to do something to commemorate it." He said once they had all learned their results and left the schoolhouse.

Anne had stayed a few minutes. She wanted to say goodbye to the place that had seen her grow up, a place that had seen her cry and laugh, the place where she officially met her soulmate. But most importantly, she wanted to say goodbye to Miss Stacy. Anne told Miss Stacy how much of an inspiration she was to her and Anne had shed a few tears when the older woman held her close and told her she was her favorite student. 

"I'm so glad I met you, Anne Shirley Cuthbert." The teacher told her as she wiped her tears away. They had said their goodbyes and Anne waved as Muriel Stacy sped off in her motorbike. 

"Okay, everyone. Let's meet by the lake in an hour, I'll bring the moonshine." Moody was giddy and his mood was quickly becoming contagious so everyone decided to do as Moody said. A couple of the girls went home to get some blankets, and Charlie Sloane headed off somewhere to get another bottle of moonshine, much to Anne's surprised. 'Guess people never stop surprising you.' She thought. 

"I have to say I am a bit excited to see you under the effects of Moody's moonshine." Gilbert said. He and Anne walked hand in hand towards the lake. 

"I have to say you'll be disappointed. Drunk Anne just happens to talk a bit more and laugh a bit more." 

Gilbert looked at her in shock. "You've been drunk?! Does Marilla know about this?" 

"Oh unfortunately she does, she was witness to the mess. Have I not told you this story?" Anne said, Gilbert shook his head. Anne went on to tell him all about that time when she and Diana, at the tender age of 13, got drunk on wine, thinking it was raspberry cordial. Gilbert laughed as she told him repeatedly "It was not on purpose, Gil. I genuinely thought thought it was raspberry cordial!" 

These were the moments he cherished more than anything. Just talking to Anne. He wanted to know her completely. He wanted to know every embarrassing memory and every strange thought, all of it delighted him.

"What about you, huh? I have a hard time believing Mr. Global and Bookish here didn't have at least a sip of something while traveling the world." Anne asked him.

"The first time I drank some of Bash's rum I threw up. The second time I also threw up, granted it was after three glasses but still. In the morning Bash told me I tried to join a band that was playing in the street, I don't know how to play any instrument. After that I thought it best if my short-lived relationship with alcohol came to an end." Anne laughed trying to imagine 16 year old Gilbert attempting to play the drums. She made a mental note to ask Bash to tell her the extended version of that story sometime. 

An hour and a half later all the classmates sat around the many blankets provided by the girls. They all reminisced and told stories while the second bottle of moonshine was passed around, the first one lay forgotten in a corner of one of the blankets, it was empty. 'You guys remember when we hopped a freight to save Miss Stacy?' 'Or when Prissy nearly married Mr. Phillips, what was that about?' Jane scrunched her nose up at that. 'Or who could forget when Gilbert came back from traveling around Canada only to be greeted by a slap in the face with Anne's slate?' Anne blushed at the memory, or maybe she blushed at Gilbert's kiss to her cheek.

It was nearing twilight, fireflies flew around them, and the breeze was blowing in a way that could only mean summer was coming to an end. But Anne felt warm all over. She couldn't tell if it was from the many layers of blankets around her, the many many sips of moonshine she had taken, or simply Gilbert's arms around her. But even her heart felt warm. In that moment she felt so content. Her best friend lay next to her, Diana's head near Anne's feet. The girls had called upon Diana to join their farewell gathering and the girl nearly drank half of the first bottle with a grimace. "The wine was much better, wasn't it Anne?" Diana said to her, even though her speech was slurred, she spoke in soft tones. 

"Yes it was, Diana." Anne replied.

The conversation in the group had faded out, people opting to speak in smaller groups or simply just enjoy the sunset, not speaking at all. The alcohol hadn't made them wild and rowdy, like Moody had predicted, but rather slow and lazy. It felt as though the slightest movement of Anne's body required enormous amount of strength, so the wisest choice seemed to not move at all. Her head was against Gilbert's chest, his steady heartbeat in her ears, like the sweetest melody. Anne chuckled at the sound of Diana's soft snores, it seems she was the first fallen soldier. But no one made a move to wake her. She moved her eyes forward and saw Ruby in a similar position, her eyes were closed and Anne couldn't tell whether she was asleep or not. The difference between her and Diana being that Ruby laid with her head on Moody's lap. That day at the lake was only the beginning of something.

Anne's childhood hadn't been perfect but that moment of complete tranquility and immeasurable happiness seemed to make up for every single tear she ever shed. She was now ready for the future. 

**Author's Note:**

> if you follow me on tumblr (@herkindredspirits *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*) then you know this fic was a struggle for me but i had a lot of fun writing it and i really hope you guys like it. if you happen to like my writing and have any suggestions of anything else i should write please let me know :)


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